The common cold is a very common upper respiratory tract infection. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, patients are usually classified into hot-type colds and cold-type colds. Hot-type colds generally occur in the summer, while cold-type colds are more often caused by accidentally catching cold in the winter.

For such patients, Western medicine may not show a clear distinction in symptoms and tends to be somewhat generic in medication use. However, in traditional Chinese medicine, distinguishing between cold and hot colds is very important in the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections.

Therefore, when choosing medication treatment, Western drugs often do not differentiate much between hot and cold colds, while Chinese medicine treatments for colds vary significantly. For example, the most common cold treatment, Chai Hu formula, is divided into Chai Hu formula and proper Chai Hu formula. The Chai Hu formula is used for treating hot-type colds, while the proper Chai Hu formula is used for some cold-type colds. Thus, in clinical practice, some medications can treat both hot and cold colds, but some cannot.